Born to fly
by kiwikid
Summary: What gave John Koenig such high respect for and friendship with his chief pilot. An unexpected event has the Commander recalling the first time he ever met Alan Carter ten years ago on Earth. Alan was at the time under arrest and not likely to ever fly again. What changed, helping forge a friendship that that had survived many dangers. But is this one the exception.
1. Chapter 1

Born to fly

a space 1999 fan fiction set season 1- characters John Koenig, Alan Carter, Paul Morrow and the rest .A friendship story.

How did John Koenig come to have such a strong friendship and respect with his chief pilot. An unforseen event makes Koenig recall the first meeting with Alan Carter.

Chapter 1- shake up

He ran his fingers lightly along her, hard callused fingertips trying to ingrain her image in his memory. "I guess this must finally be goodbye", he said to her. A lump was forming in his throat, they had been through a lot together but now finally it had to end.

"Koenig to Carter", for a moment he dared to ignore the voice knowing what he wanted. "Carter come in", Koenig had not added ' "now' but the tone said it very definitely. He moved over and pressed the button, "yes Commander", he asked. "Have you made your evaluation Alan", Koenig requested.

Alan gulped, suck it up ,he told himself, breath out, answer military style,"yes, sir I have taken in all variables and I am sorry to report that not all Eagles are salvageable ". I am going to have to use parts from one eagle to keep others in the air", Alan reported proud that his voice did not even shake.

Koenig blew out a breath, the eagles were the moons life line and even the loss of one could adversely affect their survival changes. Unfortunately they had already lost more than one. Yet he also knew that Alan would have already done all he could. He supposed he should be thankful the loss of Eagles was kept to a minimum. "Alright, thanks for your report Alan", he acknowledged. "Repair the other eagles, do what you can to keep the fleet flying."

"Aye sir",Alan replied. He broke off the communication noting that the commander had not asked which eagle was going to be sacrificed. It didn't matter to him, Alan supposed they were just machines afterall. That was of course what made his feelings seem silly and he was sure they would all be laughing at him if they saw him now. He brushed the small tear from his eye and touched the eagles cold surface again, "sorry old girl", he told Eagle one. "I never told you this but you were always my favourite". Now I suppose bits of you will be in other eagles but it won't ever be the same".

"Thanks for saving my life so many times", he told one. Of course the eagle itself probably had nothing to do with that but it helped Alan feel better. Now he understood how Helena felt when she had to decide which patient survived. Though even Helena would think he was stupid right now. The ship was just metal, no heart, no feelings.

But that did n't stop him saying, "I'll take you apart myself old girl, don't worry them butchers won't put they harsh hands on you". It would of course mean he had a lot more work to do. But he wanted to do this himself as a sort of a final gesture. Not that the eagle would care but he would do it anyway.

Looking down at his hands Alan could see them trembling. This he knew was because of fatique and not emotion. He'd already worked a long shift and should be going off duty soon. Tanya's warm affectionate arms were awaiting him and he should sink willingly into them. But he would not, today the colder metal girl was getting a last piece of affection. He really was rather daft.

Up in main Mission Commander Koenig was looking at the far off planet and already whirling plans through his head. "This one is not going to be suitable for habitation", Sandra told him, "but there are food stuffs and minerals we should be able to obtain."

"Good, we'll wait unti we get closer then I'll order the eagles in", he stated.

Helena Russell standing beside him decided it might be a good time to mention something. "When you choose pilots for that mission make sure Carter is not amongst them", she requested. John turned to her with a frown of concern, "wny not", he asked. "Because he's exhausted John", Helena replied simply.

"His reaction time will be slowed greatly meaning the risk of an accident is higher. I know you like taking Alan but it is better for him if he rests", she held her gaze on his softly. She knew Koenig well enough to know that he would not ignore her concerns.

Koenig guessed Alan must be more than simply exhausted if it had prompted Helena to speak to him. Heck exhaustion was just part of life on the moon. Just like dragging yourself through each day by your fingernails and hoping for a better tomorrow was as well.

He plastered on his fake smile, "very well Helena, I'll chose someone else",he agreed.

Helena nodded satisfied. They settled down to watch the planet loom closer.

Alan decided to break rules by not notifying the other teams of his decision to stay on. He was team leader after all and did not need their permission. When shift members finally reached the hangar bay he'd have them work on the other eagles. That decided he laid himself down on the cold floor of eagle one and opened his tool box. It was time to begin the first stage of dismantling. He had just gotten out a screwdriver when the shaking began.

"What the heck is that", muttered John Koenig as he found himself getting thrown across the room by a giant tremor.

Sandra and Paul were at monitors hurriedly tapping away. "It seems to be coming from the planet John," Paul reported.

"It seems to be in the throws of some sort of scesmic activity and the shock waves are moving out toward us. This is the same sort of effect as having an earthquake at sea", Victor Bergman told them.

"How harsh are these shock waves going to get ",Koenig asked.

For an answer violent shaking once again tore through the base.

On board eagle one Alan found himself rolling across the deck as shock waves hit the eagle. He tried to grab hold of something but could not. Soon he found himself airborne, being tossed from the main cockpit into the main cabin. It seemed like he hovered in mid air for a second then he came down, hard. Shock rippled through his body from head to toe from impact with the floor. He didn't hear anything snap but was sure he'd have massive bruising. When he moved his head slightly he decided bruising would not matter.

All he could see out the open door was a giant ball of fire no doubt caused by the explosion of the nearby eagle 4. It was barreling down the hangar deck toward eagle one like a rampaging 'roo'. Every part of his body was in shock from the impact with the deck but he knew if he did not shut the eagle door it would be over for him. Alan dragged his protesting body upward and stretched out his hand toward the door controls. His fingers had almost hit them when another shockwave hit and hurled him backward . He felt his nails rips from his fingers with the force of his violent detactment from the side of the eagle. Unable to stop himself Alan hit the floor with another violent smack. He lay there unable to move anything and feeling strangely detached. Before his eyes closed however he caught one frightening image of the fire ball now mere seconds from the ship. Then everything went black.

The flickering lights cast weird shadows on the walls of main mission. John clawed his way up from the floor with steely determination to stand upright. "Report, he barked loudly. It was an order that he knew would get everyone who was able moving. He did not even have to look to know that slowly and painfully the others were getting to their work stations. When he finally looked over at them he was relieved to notice only minor injuries. Sandra was the first of them to reach the computer, "looks like the main shock wave of seismic activity was over toward the eagle landing pads", she reported.

Paul quickly tapped into the monitors in that area," haaa", his quick intact of shocked breath was heard by all. Koenig fearing the worst said, "tap it up on main screen Sandra".

She did that and few a few seconds everyone on main mission stood still looking in disbelief at what they saw.

Absolute blackness hit their eyes first, but it was not caused by lack of power. It was obvious an intense fire had raced through the area charring everything in its path. Metal ,shaken loose by the quake was twisted and lying in stange positions throughout the bay.

"The fire could have spread to others areas of the base except"… Paul gestured to the hole in the roof of the hangar bay. "It got put out by exposure to space", Koenig finished .

He was still staring at the horrifying scene and found his dry throat croaking out the next question, "was anyone down there when the quake hit".

Sandra's fingers tensed on the computer as she tapped. "We got lucky, it was shift change so the majority of personnel are here, she tapped a secure holding area away from the hangar bays. Those walls are more solid and there is less equipment there likely to explode or fall ,they should be fine", she said it hopefully

"Get in touch with them as soon as possible to verify that", Koenig ordered. Sandra nodded tapping into the communictions system again. At first static was all that greeted her.

In the holding area people were slowly moving.

"What happened?" groaned specialist Hancock as he dragged himself from the floor. For an answer Diana Harper pressed a button and showed him inside hangar bay 1.

"Gosh another few minutes and we would have been in there", Hancock remarked soberly.

Their were similar sighs of relief all around him. That was until someone noticed who was missing.

"Where is he", Diana asked fearfully. Nobody really wanted to answer that because each of them knew the answer. It was Hancock who decided he had to say it out loud, "Captain Carter was probably still with eagle one". Diana hurriedly tapped into the monitors bringing up the hangar bay. "Look there's eagle one", she told her work mates.

All they could see was the back of the eagle as the front was completely covered with metal from the roof of the hangar bay. "He wouldn't be wearing a suit", Diana whispered as she looked at the gaping hole. They all knew what that meant.

Not long after the communications panel started to beep. They all looked at one another, "that will be the Commander", Diana stated. 'Who wants to tell him".

Of course nobody wanted that job.

So it was a shaking Diana Marks who finally responded to the call.

"The majority of us are fine Commander. We were still undertaking the final hand over before start of new shift".

"Thank goodness," Koenig breathed. Then he stopped remembering that she had said, "majority". Why was Diana Marks looking like she had something really bad to tell him. His chest started to squeeze and he had the urge to put his fingers in his ears so he could not hear her words.

"Sir their was someone in the hangar bay at the time the quake hit", Diana managed to squeak out.

Koenig felt himself go even colder as ice found its way into his heart ,life on alpha was so precious and all of its occupants were well known to him. "Who", he asked softly.

Diana stopped for a second composing herself, then with a breath of courage she announced, "Captain Carter sir."

"Alan", Koenig found the name being gasped out. He hurriedly pulled a chair under his buckling feet.

He looked into the sympathetic eyes of those in main mission. 'Is there any hope", he asked.

Sandra was tapping into the monitors showing the eagle covered in heavy twisted metal.

Nobody said anything but John knew that if the fire hadn't killed Alan then decompression would have.

"He wasn't even flying", he whispered softly…..


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- chained to the sky

December 1989

John Koenig adjusted the top of his uniform making sure it sat perfectly flat. Normally he would not bother with such trival things but he was about to take the three hour journey to Space central HQ and needed to look his best . Tapping his hand against the side of his dress pants John waited rather impatiently for his transportation. The shuttle was already 15 minutes late and John knew that would mean a delayed arrival at HQ, not something Commander Keen would be happy about. He had no idea what the CO of HQ wanted but was confident it was not a disciplinary matter. "Any word on the shuttles arrival", he asked nearby Lt. She pulled a face, "sorry sir but it suffered an engine malfunction that will take at least 2 hours to fix. We do have an eagle departing for HQ in 10 minutes but there is a criminal on board", she warned. Koenig swallowed , he didn't want to be stuck with some violent or belligerent person for a couple of hours. His face must have told the Lt. something because she reassured him, 'he's not a killer or anything sir". Koenig still debated, "there will be no other flights out today sir", the Lt. told him. "Alright then I'll take that flight", Koenig finally decided.

Barely 7 minutes later the craft arrived. Koenig hurried on board and entered the crafts rear section.

He found his eyes immediately drawn to the three people sitting on the far side. Two of the men were obviously guards, their faces blank and impassive and hands resting lightly by their weapons. Sandwiched in the middle was the prisoner. John could not see his face as his eyes were down focused on the grey floor of the craft. He could see clearly the manacles around the wrists and ankles.

The guards made brief eye contact with him as though in reassurance then back. John settled himself back in his seat. He found however his gaze kept going back to the prisoner. When he saw him rub the red marks on his wrists he found to himself saying, "can't you loosen his bonds a little, his wrists are getting very red". One guard just stared at him without reply for several seconds until he looked away. The man did not have to say it but the very clear message was 'mind your own business'.

"I'm thirsty can I get a drink', the prisoners voice was low and it's accent very different to those he was used to hearing. 'No, just shut up ", one guard snapped. For one brief second the prisoner looked up allowing Koenig a glimpse of pale blue eyes and a youthful face. He really had not intended to say anything yet, "it is not against regulations to allow him to have a drink", slipped out.

The same guard turned to glare but this time Koenig held the stare. "That would be too nice to me considering what I've done", the prisoner stated. 'The guard turned to slap him hard, "I said shut up", he growled. Unable to help feel anger rising Koenig retorted, "look no matter what he's done there are clear rules when dealing with prisoners, no hitting is one of them."

"He's just a smart mouthed young pilot who thinks he can get away with striking a superior officer", the guard stated." Nobody should be allowed to buck authority like that and get away with it. But if your prefer sir we'll undo the manacles and he can come over and hit you", the guard muttered.

Koenig met the guard stare for stare ,"has he been convicted", he asked. Now the guard finally looked away, "well actually no", he stated. "Then he is actually not guilty of anything", Koenig replied firmly.

The guard was not going to back down, "yeah well he will be, then Mr smarty will never step foot in another craft", he poked the young man in the arm. Koenig was surprised to notice tears in the young mans eyes at those words. "That's fairly drastic for a first offence", he observed. "It isn't when it was Commander Short that he attacked", the guard responded. John found himself wincing knowing that the commander they were talking about had a very definite reputation. He'd heard he lived up to his name being short on patience when dealing with subordinates. "Yes and he commander wants the maximum penalty , this young pup being thrown out of the space program", the second guard added.

"They don't even bloody care that I did not do it", it was low and bearly audible but Koenig still heard the protest. So did the more belligerent guard who slapped him again. "They all say that sir, pay no attention to him," the guard warned.

Koenig breathed in deciding this should really not be any of his business. He was about to focus on finishing some paper work when he found those blue eyes on his own. "I did not do it", the young man insisted.

The gaze was direct and did not falter even when another slap sounded to his face. "It is your word against the Commanders puppy and we all know who will win that one", the guard retorted.

"Yes, I know", the voice was filled with pain and sorrow. "You shouldn't lie to senior officers Lt.", the other guard growled gesturing toward Koenig, "he's not going to believe you."

"I am not lying" , he put his head into his manacled hands, "please why don't you believe me".

This time the more restrained guard slapped him hard. 'Because you are accusing the commander of lying, Lt. That's the wrong thing to do".

Koenig watched the prisoner hold his head up and state clearly, "not when you are telling the truth".

Hearing the depth of passion in his voice and looking at the sincerity in his eyes Koenig found himself coming to a rather surprising conclusion, the young Lt. was not lying.

"Whats your verson of events", he found himself asking. The guard intervened again before the young man could open his mouth, "his version doesn't matter".

Koenig glared, 'he's entitled to a fair trial gentlemen and the ability to put forward your own version of events is part of that system."

"Yes but you are not his legal council", the slap happy guard pointed out. "Then who is", Koenig asked.

"I don't have one", the young Lt. replied. "Well you do now", Koenig found himself saying. Few a vew seconds the words surprised him. "You want to represent him", one guard scoffed. "As a member of space command I am entitled to do so", Koenig replied. Now the guards looked at one another unsure what to do. Finally the more outspoken one stated, "knock yourself out, he's guilty end of story."

Koenig beckoned the young pilot over, "alright tell me your version of events" he wondered what he'd let himself in for but now he'd started down this path he vowed to continue.

The young pilot twisted a few moments then settled. 'It is very simple sir, I was at the base waiting for my next test flight when this lovely shiela strolls by', he smiled widely.

Koenig was confused by the word, "umm lovely shiela" he asked. "Girl sir, long blonde hair down to her waist and nice shapely brea…"he went slightly red…, "anyway none of my fellow pilots were even making an attempt to chat her up so I thought why not". He shrugged, "it turned out she was the Commanders daughter".

"Oh", suddenly Koenig had a very good idea where this conversation was leading. "Anyway he comes out all outraged at me for just saying hello. I didn't touch her, just a liitle flirty talk",the pilot protested

"Flirty talk like what", Koenig asked wondering if he really wanted to know. " Oh like saying she would look good on Bondi in a bikini" , he grimaced, "without the top ." Koenig shook his head wondering how the pilot could have been so stupid to say that to the Commanders daughter. " I am guessing the Commander heard that Lt.", he asked.

"Oh yeah and he dragged me into his office by the collar'. Then he proceeded to yell at me sir",the pilot stated.

"So what did you do", Koenig asked. "Do, oh you think that's when I hit him. I swear I did not touch him. Look sir, I love flying and knew that touching him would end my career. He could rant and rave all he liked. In fact he did, got so steamed up the he tripped over the leg of his own chair and fell into his desk".

"He had blood streaming down his face and was lying on the floor. I tried to help him up and that's when security came and the Commander blamed his injuries on me".The guards would not listen to my version of events and I found myself in this predicament", he held up his manacles.

Koenig rubbed his face and reflected that this young pilot was in a very bad situation . There were no witnesses to verify his side of the story. He was sure the court would accept the Commanders word over a Lts.

"You think it is a lost cause sir", the young pilot was watching him. For a reply Koenig looked down at the Lts. hands, "you have no marks on your knuckles Lt. If you had hit him there would be bruises".

For the first time the Lt. smiled, "if I had hit him sir", he said through gritted teeth," there most definitely would have been bruises".

Koenig shook his head, 'that attitude will not help you ,though I do understand your feelings", he looked ruefully at the pilot, "next time save the comments for a girl who is not a commanders daughter".

"I hope there is a next time", the pilot replied.

Koenig made a firm descision. " I will speak to the Commander Lt. and see if I can get him to drop the charges."

The blues eyes widened, "really you'd do that. It might impact on your own career", the pilot mused.

"I don't care Lt. your comments were not appropriate but neither were the Commanders actions", Koenig stated firmly.

The pilot smiled again, "thank you sir, I guess it was lucky that you came aboard. They would have hung me out to dry for sure".

Koenig knew that he was correct.

"As I said I 'll do my best Lt. Perhaps it might help if I can bring any examples of your character or career to the attention of HQs commanding officer.

Now the Lt's head came up a little and the smile widened. "I am the best pilot Commander Short has. You can look up my record for verification. I even beat some of the commanders old scores", he stated.

"Perhaps that was not such a good thing for an aussie pilot to do".

Koenig ground his teeth ,now this young pilot looked even more stupid," showing up your commanding officer then chatting up his daughter, not the wisest course of action Lt." he told him firmly.

Not the eyes glinted at him, "so I was supposed to be bad at what I do", he growled. "Look sir, I know I'm good but it is about professionalism not boasting. I want to do the best job I can. Why is that so wrong".

Now Koenig found himself feeling impressed, the young Lt was not that wise when it came to what he said but he did have a good work ethic.

Koenig found himself smiling at the Lt and reasurring him. "It is not wrong Lt. In fact it is something I would value myself",

He was however unprepared for the impact those words would have on Commander Short.

"Alright I admit he didn't touch me, so I will drop the charges Koenig. But I don't want to see the Lts. face again. He is not the sort of pilot I want on my team. If you value his work ethic so highly then you take him on."

Koenig thought the attitude was not fair but knew protests would get him nowhere. All he could do now was take the Lt. on himself. He vowed to have a fairer attitute to the Lt. than Commander Short.

The next morning he found himself with new orders and a new pilot.

The young Lt was waiting for him, "thank you sir for helping me". I want you to know that I will always serve you to the best of my abilities", he stated.

Koenig nodded, " I would expect that of anyone who comes to work for me Lt." As for your flirty comments, I am not too worried I don't have a daughter." " I hope you have a hole raft of other attractive staff, the Lt. suggested cheekily.

Then he seemed to remember how he was speaking to, "sorry sir", he apologised

Oh boy though Koenig this pilot was really going to keep him on his toes. But surprisingly he found himself not caring. He had looked over the Lt. record and found that he was aquiring a rather startling good pilot. It was Short's loss and his gain.

"I guess we'll go then, Koenig stated. "Yes sir", came the clipped response. They moved toward the waiting eagle and had entered before Koenig remembered he had forgotten something rather important.

"Umm Lt what is your name", he asked.

He got the grin again , "all that support sir and you didn't even know my name".

Koenig shrugged, "well it didn't seem important at the time." He held out his hand,"I'm John Koenig by the way". He got a firm shake, "Alan Carter".

"Commander', the voice of Paul Morrow was dragging him back to the present and Moonbase Alpha.

He looked at the charred remains of the eagle hangar bay again. He had to make absolutely certain of the facts.

"Do we have any recordings of what happened down there," he asked.

Paul nodded soberly and punched up a video. Fixed to the spot John and the rest of main mission watched as the sciesmic activity ripped through the hangar deck. Debris fell from the room onto the main fuel cells of eagle 4 igniting them. John knew that eagle had been fully fuelled and awaiting assignment.

The resulting explosion was intense creating a huge fireball. He held his breath as he saw it bearing down on Eagle one. "Can we get a close picture of the eagle", he requested.

The camera zoomed in and Koenig saw that the main hatch door to the eagle was open. Alan would have been working in the safety of the pressurised hangar would have had no concerns therefore being unprepared for what happened. Still he found himself saying "please shut Eagle ones door". That would action would have pressurised the eagle ,providing a safe haven . But as the scene played out the door remained open . Then there was a loud crash and falling debris as the roof of the hangar caved in. The fire was snuffed out in seconds leaving eagle one virtually untouched. But that did not help Koenigs sense of loss, the vision of the open eagle door was ingrained in his mind. In the second of the hangar bay roof collapsing violent decompression would have occurred and all oxygen would have been sucked out. Alan's luck had finally run out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- falling from the sky

Personal in Main mission were busy getting reports on the damage from the quake and ordering clean up crews into place. Nobody had done much about the landing pad and hangar bay yet as they were waiting for the Commander to give them instructions.

Koenig was sitting behind the now closed doors of his office trying to shake off the shock. The base had suffered some damage but they had been fortunate in the fact that casualties were low. His fist clenched 'low' meant one…,he didn't want to think about that one.

"John, he ignored Helena for a moment, then swiveled his chair to face her. "You need to get out there and show them you are dealing with this", the Dr told him. Koenig pulled a face, " I am not dealing with it Helena", he stated. She squeezed his hand, "you were close to Alan", she enquired."Yes we'd worked together for awhile now, he was more friend than colleague", he replied. " I understand John. But remember that everyone on this base is a friend as well as valued team members", Helena reminded him. For a minute Koenig was angry, "so you think I'm over reacting Helena".

She sighed , "I understand you are upset but so is everyone else. Alan was liked by everyone."

"But harsh as it seems we all have to move on". The welfare of the base has to come first", Helena said gently. "Alan would agree with that Helena" ,John agreed soberly. "I admit I am upset but it's not just because Alan was a friend", he stated. "Tell me" , invited Helena settling down in a chair beside him. She knew this conversation would help him move on and was glad John was prepared to share his feelings with her. "Helena Alan saved my life", Koenig explained. "I was totally sure it was over for me ,yet despite the odds he saved me".

He shivered as he remembered that cold November day. Part of his job was to test the new craft coming off the assembly lines. The craft had already undergone some stringent testing and were now in the final phase before being officially manufactured. These craft were already deemed 'safe' but Koenig and his team had to make totally sure there was nothing that had been overlooked. Alan absolutely reveled in this job throwing the craft around and pushing them to their limits. He had known the Australian for about 2 years now and found he was most passionate about three things, ships, girls and Australia. Having an easy going personality Alan had quickly made friends. Women John observed liked his boyish charm and he flirted shamelessly with them. It did not cause trouble so John did not censure the pilot over it. He found himself spending more of his down time with Alan enjoying his sense of fun.

The day started with the arrival of two new craft to test. One was a large squat ship that had was in his opinion the ugliest thing he'd ever seen. The other was a sleek streamlined ship that looked like it was built for speed. Koenig guessed which ship Alan would want to fly. However Alan took one look at both craft and stated, "that one may be ugly but I am guessing it will out perform that sleek piece of junk." Evaluating the craft John had no idea why Alan would say such a thing. The pilot just shrugged when asked to explain saying it was 'instinct'.

Koenig let that one lie, "I'll take this one if you are not fond of it, you fly the ugly beast. Tell you what Alan if you're wrong and I outfly you then the beers on me", he found himself grinning. Alan grinned back widely, "that will be more than one beer sir", he stated. "You're on Alan and you can call me John", Koenig responded. For a moment Alan just looked at him startled, "all right Sir John", he teased. Shaking his head at the pilot Koenig made his way to his craft.

It did not take him long to find out that Alan's instinct was right, althought the craft had looks it certainly did not have 'guts' struggling to achieve a level that would be acceptable to command. He wondered how this craft had made it this far in the testing process.

He could still not fail the craft without finishing final tests as command would expect a full evaluation. Pulling the controls upward Koenig climbed then plummeted down. That time she responded better, he went up again deciding to fully test her limits by using a faster rate of descent. All went well and he was beginnig to think he'd misjudged the craft. However as he neared the end of the descent the craft began to shake violently and one engine light sparked on. He pressed a button meant to help clear anything from the engines but nothing happened. The shaking increased as he stuggled to control her flight with one engine. A buzzer sounded and Koenig felt dread over come him, he'd just lost the other engine . His rate of descent quickened and the craft began to buck up and down. Feeling his hands becoming more sweaty Koenig pulled on the control stick trying to level out the craft. But she did not respond. Looking down at the console he noticed that the control warning lights were also on. He forced himself to realize this was not a good situation, no engines and no control, the odds of surviving this were fairly low.

Obviously noticing his predicament Alan's voice came over the comm lines, "John, can you do anything to control her". "Not at the moment Alan, all I can hope is a great level of functionality returns before….". He didn't want to say 'I crash' but he could not see any other result.

"Damn I knew my instinct was right about that craft, I should have flown her myself", Alan sounded mad.

"Yes and you'd have the same problem Alan, this is our job and we know the risks." I'll do what I can to regain control but you maintain your distance. I don't want any problems to affect your craft.'

John then quite calmly declared an emergency. Several long moments were spent wrestling with the controls with still no result. He had a feeling something major was wrong with this craft and it would not just 'magically mend itself. Believing this was the end for him John began to record a final message.

"Stuff that I am not going to let you die", came Alans voice. Through the cockpit window John saw Alan's craft coming closer. "Alan back off, there is nothing you can do, John warned him.

"Oh yes there is" ,Alan replied firmly, "this craft is a lot bigger than that one".

"What has that got to do with…", Koenig broke off as Alans craft maneuvered itself underneath his.

He knew then that Alan was using his ship to slow his own one down, "that is totally mad Alan we'll both crash", he protested. "I know it's hard to see this but back away now. This is not your fault ", he added .

Another jolt was the answer as Alan's craft hit his own. He could see it shoot downward and back up as Alan tried to maintain control of his own craft.

There was only one thing he could do to stop both of them dying, "Alan back off now, that's an order", he stated firmly.

Alan's craft just came back up and under his own again. "Did you hear me", Koenig found himself snapping. "Oh I heard you sir, respectfully decline to listen. I can do this, trust me", Alan replied.

The ships touched again and this time stayed close together. John could see the engines of Alans ship thowing out increasing amounts of smoke as they strained under the combined weight of both of the craft. Alan was applying the breaking system trying to slow both of them down. He just hoped the engines of the ugly beast were not like his own.

For awhile nothing seemed to be happening and Koenig could see the ground coming even closer. He was going to shout a more sterner command to Alan when his craft began to slow.

"That's it you beauty", he heard Alan crow. Looking out the window Koenig could see the ground was very close now. The craft slowed even more and for the first time he began to believe he was actually going to survive this. "Okay John I have done all I can, I will back away now, good luck".

Alans craft moved from underneath him and away slowly to its own landing site. Koenig made sure his restraints were on tightly then braced himself in the crash position.

He hit the ground 2 minutes later. The sound of screaming metal filled his ears and he jolted about in his seat . Smoke wafted through the craft making him fear an explosion. Then finally everything stilled.

He quickly undid his restraints and got himself out of there. Apart from some bruising caused by the restraints he was unhurt. Watching as emergency crews covered his craft with foam Koenig sought out Alan Carter. "I believe I ordered you to back off", he pointed out . Now he knew of course that Alan had just saved him, but he had also taken a huge risk ultimately putting both of them and their craft in danger. He had to make Alan understand that sometimes no matter how hard it seemed you had to follow orders.

Alan met his gaze levelly not aplogizing for what he had done, "would you prefer I let you crash, sir", he challenged.

Koenig glared back, "of course not , but I also don't want you to get hurt or killed by doing something crazy."

Redness crept up Alan's neck, " I couldn't just watch you die, he stated softly, "not when I could try and do something about it". You try and tell me that if it had me crashing that you would have done nothing to help".

Koenig softened a little knowing he would have tried something. He did however need some reasurrance ,"thank you for saving me Alan. But promise me you won't make a habit of challenging my orders."

There was a long silence then Alan admitted, "normally sir I wouldn't think of doing that. But sometimes you may have to accept that we will have differing opinions on things. I may end up challenging you, just a little." Naturally I'll try to keep it appropriate sir."

Koenig gave Alan full credit for being honest in admitting he was not going to blindly follow orders.

Knowing what he did about the pilot he was guessing any disagreement about orders was going to be related to ships or flying. Thinking about it he decided he could accept a healthy debate about certain orders. But Alan would have to understand that any final decision rested with him.

"Just remember who is boss, Lt.", he warned. Alan looked down, "always", he promised. "Right well I suppose it is me that needs to buy the beer", Koenig offered. He was lightening the mood now and letting himself feel thankful for being alive. "Oh you own me alot of beer, John", Alan replied. "then come on my friend. lets go and forget about this day." Alans face lit up with his warmest smile yet. For a moment he wondered why then he remembered saying the word 'friend'. Friendship with a younger subordinate officer was never advisable. But Koenig was also one who had been known to say 'stuff it' to orders on occassion. Alan was a friend and nothing was ever going to change that.

Upon reflection Koenig decided he should have been tougher on Alan and kept more in the role of commanding officer. Then maybe Alan would have gone off duty today and not been in the hangar bay.

"You have more than repaid Alan". We have saved his life a dozen times", Helena interupted his guilty thought. "You mean we saved him from all the problems he's gotten into while he was trying to help us", Koenig countered.

Helena frowned thinking John was being rather stubborn in not blaming himself, "Alan was doing what he enjoyed John", she remined him. "Flying was in his blood". He would not want you to blame yourself for this".

"Yes I suppose", John replied. "it is just that I never even got an opportunity to try and help him." "There was nothing you could have done John", Helena told him. She came closer and enfolded him in her arms. He put his head against the warmth of her shoulder and allowed his guilt to slip away. There was nothing he could do for Alan now. "Good bye my friend", he whispered. Taking a deep breath he pulled away from Helena and pushed the button on his desk to open his office doors. It was time to get back to business.

Soon everyone was staring at him again. "Is there any chance of repairing the hangar bay", he asked.

"It would be a long job Commander but we do have the resources to do it," Paul replied." Certainly repairing the base would be in the interests of our long term survival" Victor stated. "Survival' , mused Koenig why must it always come to that. Yet he too need to think of that, the bigger picture ,"what about eagle one", he asked. "Well that was the craft Alan scheduled for dismantling", Sandra stated as she looked at the recent log entry.

"Alan you sentimental idiot", whispered Koenig. Now he understood what the pilot had been doing staying on in the hangar bay. He always did have a soft spot for Eagle one, even though she was no different to the others. "Sir", queried a puzzled Paul. "Nothing", John replied. "With the loss of eagle 4 our eagle complement is the lowest ever", Paul reported. "But Alan had listed several serious faults with eagle one, so repair is not an option. I'd say we just try to recover the nose section as replacement parts and scrap the rest."

Koenig was feeling steadier again now his thoughts were focused on machines instead of people. But then Sandra reminded him of the realities, "what about Alan's umm body sir. Do you want to recover that ".

Koenig wet his lips and nodded, "I would like to say a proper goodbye", he whispered. Everyone agreed with that.

"Very well sir, we will start by disconnecting the nosecone from the rest of the eagle. We have some large cranes available to do that. They can reach through the hole in the hangar bay and remove the debris. We don't need to worry about being too delicate ,just get rid of the stuff enough to get to the nose cone."

Once that is done a crew can come into the hangar from the tunnels and access the rest of the eagle" , Paul stated.

"Very well get it done", Koenig agreed.

He sunk down into a chair and watched as a large crane rolled out of one of the storage areas. It rumbled on large traction wheels across the moons surface until it reached the hangar bay.

Sandra tapped into the camera in the bay. They were built to withstand the shock of a nuclear blast so had been relatively unaffected by the quake. She was to use these camera to monitor the cranes progress in clearing debris.

As she watched the giant teeth decended upon the eagle ready to grab the first piece of twisted metal off the eagle.

"We will find an isolated area of the surface to drop the metal", Paul remarked.

Sandra saw the teeth snap at a twisted piece of beam and pull hard. The close up view of the eagle was slightly obscured so Sandra tapped into another camera for a better view.

John was idly watching the metal twisting in the cranes teeth and coming precariously close to stabbing through the cockpit of the eagle when the normally quiet and unassuming Sandra Benes screamed, "stop" loudly.

Actually falling backward in his chair with shock John found himself falling on the ground. He watched as the petite brunette frantically hit the communication button and ordered the crew of the crane to freeze their work.

Knowing Sandra would only act like she did if something dire had happened John braced himself for yet another shock.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- making a stand

"What is going on Sandra", Koenig snapped out. For an answer the petite brunette put a picture of inside the hangar bay on the main screen. Studying it carefully for several minutes still gave Koenig no clue as to why Sandra thought yelling 'stop' was appropriate.

"Look sir" ,Sandra punched a button magnifying the picture. Still Koenig stared ,he was about to turn an question Sandra again when suddenly his brain caught up with what his eyes were seeing. "The door to eagle one is shut", he gasped out. That of course met that the inside of the eagle should be safely pressurized and Alan might actually not be dead.

A chill passed over him at how close he had come to dismantling and thereby depressurizing the eagle.

Pushing down the comm. Button Koenig called out, "Alan are you there."

Silence greeted him. Glances were exchanged by the team at main mission. Finally Helena decided to be the one to state the obvious, "he could still be dead John".

Koenig glared at her not liking having the moment of hope snatched away. "Alan, come in", he yelled.

On the floor of eagle one a strange buzzing sound seemed to be floating through Alan's ears. He wrenched his eyes open. It was quite startling to him that he was in fact still alive, looking slightly left he stared at the closed eagle door, weird he was sure he had not hit that button.

Never mind the door was closed, "Alan come in", he heard a shaky John request. Okay so it was time to get off the floor but when he commanded his legs to move they would not. Panic began to set in as Alan realized he could not feel anything in the lower part of his body. He may not have a medical degree but he knew that meant he had a spinal injury. It also meant he was not going to be able to answer the comm. Using his arms he reached into his pocket for his communication link. Dismay settled upon him as he saw it was bent and broken. Moving to throw it away Alan stopped, perhaps he could still get some sort of message out using the device. He would not be able to use words so settled on something he knew John would recognize, old fashioned morse code.

John was feeling shattered again deciding that Alan must indeed be dead. He was about to order the crane to commence work again when Sandra Bene's shouted out something else that was unexpected, "shut up everyone".

Silence rapidly fell and Koenig found himself straining to listen, beep ,beep, something was making a noise. As he listened he realized there was a pattern long then short beeps, "it's morse code, SOS", he yelled. "Alan is alive". Everyone in main mission cheered. Rushing over to the console John tapped a response message asking for details. He got back a reply that made him got cold again, "hurt, bad, cannot move".

Helena immediately contacted medical bay and asked them to ready emergency medical equipment.

"Doing all that is fine Helena but we have a huge problem. If Alan cannot move then he won't be able to put on a suit. We can't access that eagle without losing pressurization and without a suit Alan will suffocate ,so how are we going to get to him", Koenig asked.

It was a huge problem. "Fixing the bay will take days, Paul surmised, Alan might not have that long."

Everyone in main mission grew silent as they wrestled with the issue. Finally Paul asked, "is eagle one space worthy". John followed his train of though, if they couldn't get to Alan then maybe they could bring Alan to them. Using the remote control system on the eagle they could fly it out of one hangar bay and into another one.

"I'll mention it to Alan and see what he says", Koenig decided. He used the comm. system to give a detil description of the plan.

Alan listened giving his full attention to what was being proposed. He knew all too well the capabilities of eagle one, with one non functioning engine and the other one seriously damged flight was going to be extremely risky. But what other option did he have. Nobody would be able to get access to the eagle without causing depressurization. Closing his eyes briefly Alan tapped out his reply.

"He says shes going to be shaky but flight will be possible", Paul reported. Helena looked worried, "the shaking is only going to make his injuries worse John", she remarked. "I know but if you can see another way out of this then I am open to suggestions, Koenig told her.

Helena honestly could not settling for telling him,"I'll go to medical and make sure we have all the equipment ready for a severe trauma case." It is important to keep Alan calm and still, he'll naturally want to help out in this situation so you need to distract him", she squeezed his hand, "talk to him John".

John watched her go. "We will still have to remove the debris from the eagle before we can attempt to lift it off", Paul reminded him. That meant the crane was going to have to work slower and more carefully to avoid piercing the eagle. "It might take a couple of hours to clear all that", Sandra observed.

Koenig gave orders to the crew of the crane then turned back to Sandra, "keep monitoring their work and get them to stop if they are putting the eagle at risk."

"Right sir", Sandra acknowledged. John then filled Alan in on what the plan was. "You are going to hear a lot of noise Alan but I just want you to relax and don't try to move", he instructed. Remembering what Helena had told him John decided to use a story to keep Alan's mind off what was happening around him.

Remember when I discovered you were more than just a pilot, he asked. Lying on the floor listening to the creaking and straining of twisted metal Alan knew that John was trying to ditract him from his predicament. He looked dwon at his lifeless legs and swallowed, maybe getting lost in the past was a good idea right now.

Alan remembered what John was talking about. It was a quiet time at the base and John had taken the opportunity to have some leave. He had left Captain Jack Martin in charge. Martin was a by the book command officer but everything seemed to be going well. However trouble had hit on the 7th day of Martins command.

The winds were high that day gusting with a fury Alan had not experienced for many years.

"Command has requested we send a supply eagle with some medical supplies", Martin told Alan.

Alan looked into the greyness of the day where large hail stone pounded against the windows and tree branches were snapped off and flew across the base. "Are they out of their minds", he protested.

Martin scowled at him and Alan remembered that he was very much a command officer and did not have a lot of practical hands on experience. "It is a high priority request Lt.", Martin stated. "Yes but we are not the only base Captain. It is far too dangerous to attempt an eagle flight today".

Walking to the window Martin looked out, "I have seen eagles fly in worse than this Carter. Get one fuelled an on the landing pad within an hour".

Alan had studied the weather reports and read they had predicted only a low evel storm. He however knew from the 'feel ' of the day that extremely bad weather was coming.. "Respectfully sir, I have been flying for years and know my weather patterns something much worse is coming. If you launch an eagle, it will endanger the ship and the crew. Command can wait until tomorrow for their supplies".

He expected that Martin would be like Koenig and listen to then follow his opinion. "Are you refusing an order Lt.", Martin snapped. He'd been wrong obviously. "Yes sir", Alan stated.

"Very well then. I don't trust your weather sense Carter, I deal in facts. If you won't do it then I will get someone else to order the supplies sent", Martin told him. "Then you will just put someone else in danger. We need to ground all craft and get personal to safety straight away", Alan insisted. He held his gaze on Martins and hoped he was going to listen to reason. Koenig would he reflected.

However Martin was not Koenig yelling at him, "well I think the danger is less than you are making out Carter."Those supplies are going out today .But since you cannot seem to follow and order without an argument you are dismissed pending charges. Koenig can deal with you when he comes back".

He stalked away then toward the hangar bays. Alan stood still for a few minutes trying to shake off the shock of what had just happened. Martin must be mad to even think about sending a pilot out in this.

But now he'd removed him from duty. But was he just going to go to his room and wait while Martin sent out a pilot. "Oh Damn", Alan swore. He did not have time to contact either command or Koenig, he would have to act on his own.

Running now he made his way to the docking bay. Martin had already began to swing his plan into action ordering Lt. Greer to stock the eagle. "Stop Lt", Alan commanded. Greer immediately put down the supplies and looked relieved. Lt. Carter I believe I removed you from duty", Martin growled.

"Sorry sir but I decline. You orders contravene current safety regulations therefore I cannot allow you to carry them out", Alan stated. He noted that the entire crew of the docking bay were all watching.

"Are you trying to remove me from duty Carter", Martin stormed. His face had gone a horrible red colour and the veins were standing out on his neck. "Not trying Captain, I am removing you from duty", Alan stated. He did not know what he expected to happen next but laughter was definitely not it.

"Who's going to run the base Carter, you, a pilot". I give you an hour then you'll be begging for me to come back", Martin told him.

Alan just stood his ground ordering two deck personal to take Martin to his cabin and lock him in.

After that he ordered that the base be secured against extreme weather conditions. All eagles were secured in their hangars and all personal moved to underground buildings to protect them against flying glass or debris.

Less than 20 minutes later the storm hit. It was according to reports the worst hurricane in over 30 years causing extensive damage and killing many people.

It took two whole days before any ships were given clearance for flying. On the third day John returned to the base and found to his surprise that Alan was in charge. The storm had knocked out most of the communications meaning Alan had been unable to notify command of what had transpired.

Martin was awaiting Koenig at the landing bay and Alan knew he was the topic of conversation. From the swearing he could clearly hear echoing across the bay Martin was definitely unhappy with him.

He had to wait another 2 hours before Koenig called him to his office. His face was grave and serious, "Martin has leveled some serious charges against you Alan, including inciting a mutiny". I would like to hear your version of events". Alan paled at the term mutiny, it carried a very heavy penalty.

But he had no regrets as to his actions and told Koenig exactly what had happened.

John let out a huge whoosh of breath, "I have had half the base in here defending you Alan", he stated.

"Do you know that Alex's base did send some eagles out in that weather". Alan swallowed Commander Alex Johnstons base was only about 100 miles away and would have experienced similar weather conditions. "I didn't know that sir", Alans voice had gone dry, he was going to get removed for duty of that he was sure. He looked down at the floor feeling very cold. Martin now had a very good case against him.

"He lost all those eagles and is now facing an investigation", John concluded. Alan's eyes snapped up to his face. "You made the right call Alan, not only did you protect the eagles but you also kept the base and personal safe. Command will not be making any charges toward you , in fact it is probably Martin who will face a board of inquiry."

"It was brave standing your ground like that Alan. It also proved that you have skils beyond mere piloting".

I would like to enroll you in a command course', Koenig told him. Alan was shocked, command him, all he had ever aspired to was being a pilot. ""Its very flattering John, but I'm happy where I am", he stated.

"But where is the challenge Alan", Koenig asked. "I think you could be a whole lot more than a pilot. I'm not asking you to give up flying just be open to taking on a leadership role".

Thinking it over Alan decided that Koenig was right, he did need more challenge. "Alright ", he agreed.

"That's good Captain", Koenig told him with a grin.

Thinking about it now Alan was glad that Koenig had challenged him to take on a different role.

But right now he also felt useless in either a piloting or command role. He still could not move his lower body. So all he could do was wait and wonder if he was ever going to fly again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- recovery

"Commander the eagle is now cleared of all debris", Sandra informed. Her voice was soft and light, still feeling touched by the story the Commander had told the injured Alan Carter. From the looks on the faces of the others she could tell they all hoped Alan would be able to return to what he loved the most, flying. John was hoping so as well and trying not to think about how grave Alan's injuries actually sounded or the knowledge that what he was about to do might make them worse. "Paul lift eagle one off", he instructed. Going to the controls Paul Morrow mentally crossed his fingers, if the eagle was not going to fly then they had a huge problem on their hands, he pressed a button, "attempting to fire the engines", he announced. Alan heard the sound of one engine firing and felt eagle one begin to shake, what he could feel of his body began to hurt rather painfully as injured tissue was stressed all over again, he closed his eyes and willed himself to remain calm and still.

Look at her", Paul gasped as the eagle listed violently to one side as it rose painstakingly out of the hanger. "She's only got one engine", John remarked, "yet she's flying'. Paul didn't dare voice his concern of 'for how long", but he knew he wasn't the only one who had the thought, he could see it in their eyes.

He battled to control the bucking eagle bringing her out of the hangar and into space. She bucked and jumped but with slow progress she inched toward the new docking bay. The doors opened and slowly she inched inside.

Alan felt the none to gentle bump as Eagle one touched down. He didn't open his eyes though still lost in a sea of pain. It was a gentle footstep then a warm hand in his own that told him he was no longer alone. "Alan we are here", Helena Russell told him softly.

Opening his eyes, Alan saw her looking at him gently, "we'll take care of you", she told him. Looking over he could see a stretcher packed full of all sort of things needed for his treatment, anxiety hitched up a notch. Helena squeezed his hand again then got up to begin helping getting him ready to transfer to medical. This was no simple task as she had to fit a collar and a backboard to prevent further spinal damage. On the other side of her another doctor was swabbing down Alan's arm in order to place an IV. It was highly possible Alan had internal bleeding and the fluids would be necessary to prevent dehydration.

Alan winced as he felt the needle go in but did not move, exhaustion and pain were taking their toll and he felt a type of detachment set in. Helena noticed Alan's skin turn even mre pale and hurried to place a warming blanket upon him, he was going into shock and that could kill him as quickly as any other injury. Insuring he was warm, she reached over for the neck brace and moved it close. She kept an eye on Alan as she did so not wanting to worsen the shock. His eyes were closed though and he was muttering, "earth this is eagle 1, ready for touchdown". Helena swallowed knowing the shock was probably bringing on hallucinations, "Alan you are here with us on Alpha", she told him gently.

"Alpha" Alan tried to drag his mind back from the brief glimpse of the shining blue planet only to find it took hold again.

He found himself looking down at the beautiful vision that was earth and knew this was the day it had happened, "13th September 1999, the day of breakaway". Only one other person knew of the choice he'd faced that day. He was in orbit watching as the moon was blasted out of Earth's orbit. It had been a horribly shocking thing to observe, as had the pictures he'd been able to receive from Earth. The damage to the planet had been tremendous destroying whole cities and killing millions of people. When they returned home life would be far different, perhaps their home towns would be no longer there. That would not stop them from wanting to go of course, assuming they could. But as the moon kept moving Alan came to the conclusion that a return home would not be possible for Alpha. One look at his fuel guage though and he knew that he could actually make it.

So what would you do, of course he had a duty to Alpha but he could also report their plight to Earth and help with a rescue effort. Earth or Alpha, which one felt more like home, which one had the people he cared most about.

None but Commander Koenig knew the real reason why he'd made the choice of Alpha and not earth.

It had been the 12th that had been the start of the worst time of his life. He had just come from the medical section of moonbase Alpha from gazing at the nearly lifeless husks that were once pilots he knew well. Helena did'nt even have to tell him the prognosis for him to know what would happen to them. He'd quietly slipped out of medical before Helena could even speak to him. Stomping down the corridor he'd made his way to his own small room for a few moments alone. It was there that he'd been contacted to say he had a message from Earth. A few moments later he walked down the corridor again in a daze making his way to the transport tube on route to an eagle. He was totally unaware of the fact that John Koenig had joined him in the tube or the fact he was talking to him. "Alan" , a gentle shake made him aware of the fact Koenig was staring at him in concern, "are you alright". All he could do was shake his head. "Come", Koenig gently steered him over to the travel tubes seating and pushed him down, "you look ready to pass out". Koenig's hands were checking his eyes , feeling his forehead fearing that he had suddenly become afflicted with the same illness that had affected the other pilots.

He felt like a totally floppy jellyfish right now with his body unable to respond. He barely registered the fact Koenig was calling medical. "No John", he managed to tell his friend. Koenig came back to his side , "something is wrong Alan", he stated, "if you are sick you need to go to medical and I'm not going to even argue about that." "I'm not sick John", Alan told him softly as he slouched even lower. He could feel himself beginning to tremble and knew this would only heighten Koenigs worry. Seeing him go a shade of white he'd never seen in his pilot before John decided he better contact the medical team after all. He was halfway to the console when Alan finally mangaged to tell him the problem, "Jeff's dead John". Jeff was Alans little brother who had a nice boring and safe desk job in a bank in Sydney.

He slipped to Alan's side quickly and without even thinking about it pulled him close. Unable to hold in his pain any longer Alan sobbed into Koenigs chest. It lasted several long minutes then Alan's tears finally ran out and he felt exhaustion take it's place. "Come my friend you are going off duty", Koenig told him.

Alan shook his head, "no John, not yet, I need to work so I don't think about it."

Koenig shook him again softly, "Alan you'll want to go home, make arrangements". "I will", Alan whispered "but not yet. His car went off a cliff John into the river, they know he is trapped inside but cannot get to his body at the moment". All I would be doing is waiting. Let me keep working until they…",he sobbed slightly again.

Koenig didn't really like the thought of keeping Alan on duty when he was obviously so upset. Alan's parents had died three years ago so Jeff was the only family he had left. That had to hurt. But he also knew that if he was in Alan's position he'd probably want to keep busy as well. He knew that there was nothing he could do for his brother . "Alright Alan, but only until tomorrow after that you are leaving for Australia", he insisted.

Of course the next day was breakaway and knowing he had no family left on Earth Alan had decided to join his alphan family. Even though life was hard here he had never regretted it.

Feeling himself being lifted Alan opened his eyes. He was firmly strapped into a stretcher and then being whisked out of the eagle and down the corridor. The lights of the corridor flashed by making him feel rather nauseous. Throughout the whole time Helena Russell kept her hand firmly in his , it was like an anchor keeping him grounded.

When the overhead lighting changed Alan knew they had arrived in the medical bay. Helena began to shout out instructions and Alan soon found himself surrounded by medical personal. He closed his eyes again, shutting out what they were doing to him and letting himself drift off.

John waited rather impatiently for a report from Helena. He kept himself busy by continuing the cleanup efforts of the hangar bay affected by the explosion. Several hours went by and finally Helena came to him.

He stood up from his chair immediately upon seeing her face, a melancholy look that only appeared when the news was grave. The urge to not ask after Alan passed through his mind and was gone in a second, he had to know how his friend was. Helena showed him some scans, "the other injuries we can deal with, but this", she tapped the photos taken of Alan's spine," see all the swelling". Koenigs mouth had gone dry , "so he has spinal cord damage", he croaked out. Helena squeezed his hand, "well actually not too sure about the amount of damage as the severe swelling is preventing us from getting a clear indication. But I do know that Alan is unable to move the lower portion of his body, only time will tell whether this is temporary or not." Thinking about the all the things a pilot had to do Koenig knew deep down that paralysis was going to end Alan's flying career. "Does he know… well…", he couldn't even say it.

Helena could though, "that he can't be a pilot if it is permanent, I am sure he does John. But he's not asking and at the moment we won't be saying anything until we know for sure. Alan's always been a fighter, but this could be the straw that broke the camels back".

Koenig swallowed, "then it will be my job to make sure it's not", he said firmly. An idea began to form in his head, "there's also something else i'd like to do', he told Helena. She frowned at his idea, stating, "it might make things worse John". "Helena Alan is going to fly again", he said firmly. She really wanted to have his optimism but the evidence so far was against a positive outcome. All she could do was hope that the medical evidence was wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- finding a way

Alan stared at the ceiling of his room and counted the small indentations for the hundredth time. He avoided looking at the wheelchair that sat parked beside his bed, a mute testimony of his current condition. It had been over 12 weeks since his injury and nothing had changed, though he had been relased by medical. At least he was out of everyones gaze and able to have some quiet time.

His door chimed right on cue and he held back a grumble, he knew who it was. He came every day to try and keep his thoughts positive, it was a friendly gesture but it was no longer working. Alan had been busy everyday of his life upon the moon, now he just felt rather useless. Of course his hands still worked and John was pushing for him to take up a desk job. Gosh he wished he could be enthusiastic about that, but he knew with the type of dngers they face on the moon, even being at a desk job would be dangerous for him.

John opened the door without permission and stood staring at him, "come on Alan, time to get out of here and join me for a meal". Alan didn't bother arguing as he knew from experience that Koenig would just make it an order. He almost smiled at the thought that he could disobey an order easily now, what was John going to do ground him. But he couldn't not be bothered having an argument. So he mutely followed.

Rolling himself through the corridors Alan only half listened as John rambled on about Alphan news. "Anyway Harry would like a change ,so that means there is a vacancy available at that department".

Alan stopped, he knew this was another subtle hint to get himself working. "We could adapt the space for your chair Alan", Koenig was saying. "Is this an order John", he could not help the tension in his voice. Koenig sighed, "Alan I don't want to make it an order. But you need to think it over carefully. I know you miss flying but… "But just face it I am never going to step foot, pardon the expression, into an eagle again", Alan knew his voice sounded angry.

"Well yes", Koenig tired of being discrete went for the matter of fact tone. Sucking in a gulp Alan found the all too familiar tears well up and fought them off. He supposed sooner or later he would have to return to doing something. Everyone on this base had a job to do and he could not be the exception.

"Alright", he sighed softly, "I'll do it". Koenig could hear the reluctance in his voice and knew the work was not going to go well if Alan did not have the right attitude. "I'll get Jerry Brooke to come by your cabin and talk about the position. He can answer any questions or concerns you have. Alan I expect you to give the same dedication to this position as you have shown in other things", Koenig told him.

In other words stow the attitude Alan thought , but he supposed his gloomy thought could be grating. He could not help it though , he belonged in the sky and felt depressed at being land bound for the rest of his life.

They continued on and had a quite meal together , the conversation was kept up but he wasonly half listening, lost in his own world. "I have to go now, stay talk to the others, I'll see you tomorrow", Koenig squeezed his hand then left. More conversation did not appeal so Alan avoided eye contact with anyone and left the recreation area. He was half way back to his room when the red alert siren started to scream.

"All non essential personnel return to your quarters and stay there", Koenig instructed. Non essential, now that actually applied to him. He watched two pilots run through the doors ahead of him, obviously eagles were needed for the emergency. Bitterness and uselessness welled up together ,he fought them off and wheeled the chair a little faster toward his quarters.

He reflected as he moved how the old Alan who dared to be put himself into dangerous positions despite orders to the contrary had gone. Now he obeyed without even an argument. Stopping his chair just short of his door Alan made a decision, maybe it was time to get the old Alan back.

He wheeled around fast and headed toward the travel tube.

John Koenig was pacing up and down and casting uneasy glances at the huge spaceship that sensors had picked up. It had not responded to their greetings in any verbal manner but had sent down 6 medium size pods. These had landed a few kilometers away from the base. When they had opened just a few minutes ago and large metallic men had began their march toward the base. Taking it as an act of aggression Koenig instructed several eagles to go and destroy the robots.

"Eagle three here sir, I have the target in sight", came Lee Hansons voice. Koenig tried to communicate with both the ship and robots again, asking them to contact him or he would have to take action.

A flash of a red beam fired toward eagle three was the answer. The eagle was quickly enveloped and exploded seconds later. The metal men continued their jerky but quick steps toward the base.

John tensed up even more, "Alright they can withstand one shot but can they withstand several, perhaps several eagles can fire all at the same time.". "Hmm, I am not sure that's wise John", Victor Bergman warned, "it looked like the robots gained power from the laser shots, several could make them unstoppable. We may have to think of another way."

Koenig watched as a robot used a tool attached to his arm to cut a hole in the wall one of the outer buildings of the base. "We better think quickly Victor", he remarked.

"The base is being invaded by several metallic men, do not approach", came the warning.

Alan wheeled his chair into a small alcove that would conceal him while still giving him a view of what was coming. As he watched two large silver metallic men ripped open a door like it was made of paper and marched down the corridor. They were at least nine feet tall and had a large body mass. Unlike humans they had several pairs of eyes and could rotate their heads to look backward, up and down. It was not going to be easy to sneak up to these guys. Continuing to watch Alan saw two security offers fire their lasers on the robots. The beams seemed to sink into the metallic skin briefly making it shine even brighter. A brighter shot that burned through both the security officer then the wall was the answer to that attempt to stop them. The other officer stood still unsure of what to do next, he was right in the pathway of the approaching machines and had the door was several feet away. "Get out of the way ", Alan found himself yelling. That unfortunately made the robots heads swivel toward him, oh boy. The security guard took that opportunity to escape and Alan hoped desperately that he had gone for help.

One of the machines held out a hand and Alan felt his heart beat increase as he realized the weapon was trained upon him. Grasping the wheels of his chair hard Alan twirled the chair around and wheeled as fast as he could toward the door.

"Jasper is dead", the security guard told Koenig, he tried to take out one of those robots but the shot was just absorbed . The robot fired back killing him and burning through half the wall. He would have got me as well if Carter had not distracted him".

Koenig started he could have sworn the guard said Carter, "who", he asked. "Alan Carter, he was there in his chair and he yelled", the guard repeated. He did not expect for Koenig to grab hold of him, "you just ran and left him there with those things", he spluttered.

The guard flushed, "there was nothing I could do", he stuttered. Koenig gave him a glare that stated clearly he doubted those words. "I want a team of guards in the corridor", he yelled.

Alan heard a strange fizzing sound and found himself whizzing the chair about in a half circle. Behind him he saw the amazing sight of one of the metal men with what looked like arching electricity covering his entire form. It bathed him in an almost purple glow for several seconds before his eyes turned bright yellow, then to black then to orange as flames shot from them. Seconds later the robot collapsed. Alan watched stunned and wondering what had happened. He hardly registered another robot shooting at him, quickly wheeling again, he felt the chair move slightly as it was hit. When he heard the sizzling sound again he realized what had happened, the robot's shot had hit the metal of his chair then bounced off. He remembered John telling him that the chair had been constructed from the metal they'd found on the planet they'd dubbed, "old stinky' because of all the overly fragrant trees that grew abundantly.

Now the other robots had stopped and were turning. Alan wheeled himself as fast as he could toward the console and contacted Main mission. "John the robots can be stopped by using shields made from the metal from planet stinky', he went on to explain what had happened.

John took it all in "all right Alan, we'll get on it right away. Now go back to your cabin and stay there, that's an order".

Alan sighed inwardly always the protector was John. But he also had a valid point, it was not too wise for him to be out here. So he wheeled toward his rooms. Coming into the corridor he froze when 1 large metal robot began to run in his direction. Spinning his wheels fast Alan propelled himself down the corridor . He could hear the clonking sounds of the robots feet as it bore down upon him. A door was in sight and Alan felt his hands burn as he forced the chair faster. Too late, a giant hand grabbed the back and pulled him. Feeling his chair tip, Alan found himself falling out . Holding the chair in front of him Alan warned, "go ahead metal monster shoot, I've always wanted monster chips for dinner".

As if he understood the robot did not fire just reaching to pull the chair away. Alan knew if that happened he'd be doomed, the robot would fire and kill him. He held on tightly then flinched when the robots own cold metal finger wound around his own and pulled them off the chair. Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck the robot then held him like a cat with its prey shaking him slightly.

Then he clomped along the corridor with him held firmly in his grasp. Alan wondered what he intended and found his heart racing again as the robot approached one of the garbage shutes on the floor of the corridor. Using it's other hand to prize the shute open, it shook him again the threw him down toward the shute. Finding himself flying through the air Alan braced himself for falling hard on his back. He felt his body flip so he was facing with his legs downwards, that was totally useless. The ground was coming up fast and Alan could swear the damn robot was smiling.

Security had eliminated the robots on the other levels using the metallic shields when a report came in of one near level three.

Koenig felt icy sliver force its way into his heart, level three was where Alan's quarters were and he was wondering if he had made it back.

"Alan report", he snapped. When he got no answer he simply ran out of main mission and made his way along to level three.

There he found the last remaining robot lying on the floor with sparks still cascading over his body .

The guards were frowning at the robot, "it wasn't us', the remarked. "Yeah well you guys, your weapons were useless but mine was fairly awesome", came a very familiar voice.

John found himself staring with his mouth slightly open. 'What are you surprised I took him out with just a wheel", Alan Carter retorted. "Umm no Alan, it's just that..", Koenig pointed at him. Alan frowned, "What, have I got some robot goo on me or something", he looked himself over.

Koenig could not believe Alan might not have actually realized, 'umm no Alan It's just that you're standing up".

Alan looked down at his legs and began to laugh, "yeah well I suppose neither me or that metal idiot really expected that". Koenig began to smile, 'oh and by the way Alan do you realize you disobeyed another order".

"Hey I thought I was essential personnel", Alan replied. "Yeah you are", Koenig agreed. Alan accompanied John was to main mission and listened as the spaceship was told its metal robots were dead. Alan waited for a shot from the ship but nothing happened, it hung there for a moment longer then left. So much for that. "Well we always were superior to machines", Alan stated. Everyone turned toward him then noticing for the first time that he was standing next to John. Acting like he had no idea why they were all staring Alan demanded, "what, never seen a pilot before".

When everyone grinned he found himself joining in.

Helena took his arm firmly and led him down to medical section to give him a quick check over.

Her smile told him all he needed to know. "So I'll get my flight status back", he asked ,trying hard not to make his voice shake. Although he loved flying and wanted to be back up there now the moment was approaching he felt a little uncertain.

"Yes", Helena confirmed. Alan went back to his quarters to mentally prepare himself.

Helena contacted John, "look I'd rather not wait for some emergency to happen to send Alan back up there, she told him. I know flying is in his blood but I swear I detected a trace of nerves".

"Alright I'll take care of it", Koenig told her.

The next morning Alan found John at his door again. "Since you have been away from flying for awhile you'll need to requalify. I'm here to take you through everything".

Alan appreciated that it was John who was by his side in the eagle today. He grinned, "just like old times". Koenig grinned back, Alan seemed fine with not trace of the nerves Helena had mentioned.

They made their way to the hangar bays where Alan found himself stopping and staring at the eagle that sat waiting. "Isn't that eagle one", he asked. Koenig shook his head at the fact Alan could instinctively recognized the eagle. "Yes, I gave the order to repair her. But as yet nobody has taken her up. I wanted you to be the first".

Alan found a lump forming in his throat, "you had a lot of faith", he rasped. "You have overcome a lot Alan, I had no doubt that you would fly again", Koenig told him. "Even when you tried to get me to fly a desk",Alan asked.

"Just a little incentive to get out of that chair Alan",Koenig replied.

"Thanks",Alan told him sincerely. He walked to the eagle and with a huge grin began to strap himself in.

"I am really looking forward to this", he told John. He was almost overly excited and Koenig decided he better make sure Alan was not putting on an act. "Are you sure, Helena thought you might be…"

"Nervous", Alan ended his sentence. "I was John, but something changed that". He pulled a small tape from under his flight suit and put it into the eagles main computer. "It is from the camera that was inside the eagle at the time of the explosion", Alan told John.

They watched together as the giant fireball raced toward the eagle. Alan noticed John frowning and pushed the freeze button, "look John, here I am on the ground unconscious, now look at the door".

John was, "it's open", he stated. 'Yes, no matter how hard I tried I could not remember shutting that door. Now I know it was because I didn't." He looked over at John, "I don't want anyone to give me a scientific explanation. I think with all that we have endured on the moon and how we live each day not knowing if there is a tomorrow that I want to believe in a miracle."

If this can happen John then we are going to find a home", he grinned that boyish grin of long ago. "Now can we go throw the eagle about". John 's smile matched his own, "you have clearance for lift off Captain', he declared.

Down at main mission everyone watched as Eagle one lifted off into space, there was a cheer.

Seconds later though Paul Morrow was frowning as he watched the antics, "those sort of moves are not standard for an eagle', he grumbled.

Helena just laughed, "oh don't be a stick in the mud Paul, the boys are playing, let them enjoy themselves." Paul shrugged deciding a little fun never hurt anyone.

The END


End file.
